Since last Tuesday, the MacArthur Elementary School third-grader has plowed through more than 1,467 pages, earning her the school’s Top Reader honor.

She and the rest of the student body – many of whom were reading away at Family Literacy Night on Wednesday – are in the midst of a massive read-a-thon.

They are attempting to read a quarter of a million pages in three weeks for charity.

Their efforts – with sponsorship from Verizon – will benefit Miller Children’s Hospital patients, who will receive 35 copies of “The Jester Has Lost His Jingle” and Jester and Pharley dolls.

“It’s a huge thing for us,” said principal Wayne Wong. “It’s a schoolwide effort that also trickles to the home.”

The Jester Read-A-Thon is part of the Reading Makes A Difference program inspired by “The Jester Has Lost His Jingle” author David Saltzman, who died at 22 of Hodgkin’s disease. His family created The Jester Co., Inc. in 1994, pooling their resources to publish his work.

Since then, the award-winning children’s book has been read in more than 100 schools in the nation, with more than 70,000 Jester books and dolls donated to hospitalized and special-needs children through the program, said David’s mother, Barbara Saltzman, a Palos Verdes Estates resident.

“I never really anticipated its immense impact on the lives of so many people,” said the former Los Angeles Times entertainment editor, who quit her job to run the nonprofit organization. “I knew the book would move people in very profound ways, but I never expected the outpouring of caring that the book really evokes among adults as well as children.”

Faculty members at the Lakewood K-5 campus have been working on building student literacy with monthly reading clubs and other activities, including the Jester Read-A-Thon.

Saltzman said she is confident that the students will meet their reading goal.

“Their enthusiasm and all that they’ve been doing to build up the program have just been extraordinary,” she said. “I can’t wait to see what happens by the time they get to the end of the read-a-thon. I think they’re going to do phenomenally well.”